


sleep.

by noodlerdoodler



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-08-10
Packaged: 2018-04-13 23:42:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4542033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noodlerdoodler/pseuds/noodlerdoodler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will wishes his boyfriend would just go to sleep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sleep.

He always notices when Nico begins to get tired because the dark smudges under his eyes get significantly darker and his conversation falters more than usual. Not to mention, he begins to push against Will to get closer to him. 

Prior to dating him, Will didn't even think the son of Hades could talk for more than five minutes straight. But he'd learnt, after staying up with him many nights in a row, that Nico had quite the mouth on him and could talk for hours if he wanted to. He always seemed to retract back into his shell whenever they were around others though. 

Tonight, Nico is trying to explain what shadow travel feels like and how exactly it works, when he starts yawning between sentences but stifling it with his hand. And then, he begins to rub his eyes with his left hand. 

"Nico." Will's about to tell him that it's time to rest when his boyfriend moves. 

"Mhm..." His head comes to rest on Will's shoulder and he stops talking completely, running out of words and ways to phrase them. Will toys affectionately with his dark hair and smiles his softest smile at him. 

"You need your rest, Di Angelo. Can't have my best patient staying up after curfew." This is a conversation that the two of them have almost every night here in the Hades house. Normally, Will wouldn't be allowed to sleep in here but he always goes in to check on Nico and then sticks around. He's been teased more than once about why he spends so much time there. 

"I can't." Nico has these nightmares that he wakes up from, like all demigods but worse because of the things he's seen, shaking and sweating over. And Will always has to calm him, often woken up by his boyfriend thrashing around, pressing gentle kisses to his olive skin. 

There's something scary about having Nico sobbing into his shirt in the middle of the night for reasons he can't explain and he doesn't want to explain but Will suffers through it. It's not every night anyway, just most, and maybe if he's lucky, tonight will be a dreamless night. 

"Nico, it's not healthy to stay awake this long. You need to give yourself time to heal from all the shadow travelling you've been doing. You're exhausting yourself." Will tells him and he pushes him off so that he can get up and draw the curtains across. He smiles at the sunset briefly and nods to it. Hey Dad. 

"I am healed." A disgruntled Nico insists from where he is now slumped against only his pillows and scowling. He's fiddling with one of the rings on his index finger, the skull shaped one, maybe to avoid Will's eyes. 

"You are not." Will climbs into bed alongside him and slings an arm around him, helping him settle down under the covers. Nico's only wearing his shirt and his underwear, meaning that his legs are pressed against Will's and he can feel the cold from his skin. 

"Am too." 

"Are not." 

"Shut up, Solace." Nico gives him a look that's definitely a scowl but a teasing one, Will thinks. Almost like a mock scowl. Because he's not sure that Nico could ever outright admit to liking anyone, even his boyfriend, so he has to cover it with snappiness and scowls. 

"Only when you admit I'm right." 

"You're never right." 

"You're always wrong." It takes a few moments of shifting as they talk to get comfortable but Will finds that their bodies fit together perfectly when they're close like this so it doesn't take long. His leg slides over Nico's to wrap around him and the boy makes a soft noise, pressing his head against Will's shoulder. 

"You're so warm." Nico mumbles and Will's heart melts in his chest. 

"That's 'cause you're like a corpse, Di Angelo." Luckily, the boy doesn't seem to take offence and even lets out a small quiet chuckle. The noise does strange things to Will's stomach, making it flip-flop inside of him. 

"Night, Nico." 

"Night, Will." Arms and legs tangled so that it's hard to remember what's what and who's who, they lie together for a while in the dark, in the quiet, until Will says:

"Nico?" 

"Yes?" 

"I thought you might have fallen asleep." 

"I'm not falling asleep until you fall asleep." Will doesn't object as Nico begins to press small kisses against his neck and collarbone, cold and sweet. Will's fingers move to tangle in his dark hair again, running them through it. It needs washing and cutting since it's getting shaggy but he knows his boyfriend would never let him help. 

"That's a strange rule." 

"My mom said that if two people fall asleep sleep at the same time, they can dream about each other." Nico says quietly, almost shyly, "I'd like to dream about you, Will." 

"I'd like to dream about you too, Nico. It would be better than having weird demigod dreams to say the least." Demigod dreams are always rocky, like running through a minefield blindfolded, but Will doesn't mind as long as he can wake up to Nico in his arms. 

"You're..." Nico yawns against his neck as he stops kissing and just lies there limply, "You're meant to say some cheesy line about... Dreaming about each other..." 

"I am?" 

"You would if this was a movie." 

"Is this a movie?" 

"You remind me of movies." 

"Good movies?" 

"Terrible movies." Nico smiles sleepily at him, his eyes half-lidded and Will closes his eyes and holds him close. He's close to sleep now, they both are and it makes him sigh contentedly. Will thinks he would stay in this warm sleepy state forever if he could. 

"You're not a movie. You're a short from an art film festival." Will tells him.

"Is that a joke about my height?" Nico was just a little bit shorter and it was always fun to tease him about it. 

"Maybe." 

"I hate you." 

"No, you don't." He's expecting more arguments but he realises quickly that his boyfriend has finally fallen asleep against him and he sighs quietly. Thank the gods, he was afraid Nico would never sleep. The kid never lets himself rest, it seems. 

"Goodnight Nico." Will falls asleep, listening to the reassuring sound of Nico's heart fluttering in his chest and feeling his chest rise and fall underneath him. It's reassurance that he's there and okay and that they've made it. Will can't believe that despite it all, they've made it. 

"I love you." There's a mumble from Nico that could be an echo of the words but they're both too far gone into sleep to tell.


End file.
